A Writing Game/Maybe

Chatterbox: Inkwell

A Writing Game/Maybe

A Writing Game/Maybe Contest!

Okay, first off, I am being patchy on my posting right now, so if I drop off the face of the earth during judging, someone please take over. Feel welcome to yell at me, also.  However, I am feeling fancy right now, so I want to make a game that might be a contest I don't really know, I haven't done it with people before.

So, how this is going to work is that I'm going to say ten words or phrases. Each round, the way you get the words will be different. Maybe one time you are in a place with a bunch of people and you take words from their conversations, or maybe you're watching a movie or video and take words from that, or choose stuff from a book you're reading, whatever. Okay, I've decided this will be a contest. I will lay out the steps.

1) I will choose ten random words or phrases.

2) You will write a story between 100 and 1000 words, but it must contain all of my ten words/phrases.

3) After 10 people have entered the contest, I will choose between their stories and decide which one I like based on a rubric that I make up before reading anything. No one will know what that rubric says, although it will have stuff to do with mood, whether or not grammar is my friend at the moment, whether I want a long or short story, etc. I will post the rubric with my judging answers at the end, but there will be a certain amount of luck involved on your part. Just do what feels right, and maybe it will win, maybe it won't, even if it is a wonderful or terrible story.

4) Whoever gets the most points based off of my rubric will win! They are the next judge.

5) The judge of the round that just ended will choose how the new judge will obtain their words. The judge does that, posts the words, and it's a new round and we will go over the steps again.

I don't know if this will be fun, given that I made it up on the spot, or if the random rubric is something you lizards think will be fun or just kind of annoying, so give your feedback, please, and I can change the rules.

The words for this round are:

1) Glitter

2) Magic

3) Notebook

4) String

5) Book of Invincibility

6) Map

7) In charge

8) When life gives you lemons, throw them at the nearest frog

9) Eat

10) Charcoal

I hope you all enjoy! I'm super excited to try this out.

submitted by Morning, age yonder
(April 24, 2021 - 8:16 pm)

back to the Inkwell
"I DON'T WANT TO EAT CHARCOAL!" Chelsey shrieked over the chatter of the room.
All she got was a nonchalant glance from Serena, bored as can be.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She was about to shout back an angry retort when she noticed the rest of the lunch room staring at her. 'Kay. Maybe she'd just sit back down then.
"When life gives you lemons, sometimes you've gotta throw them at the nearest frog, Chelce!" Lina piped up, looking thoroughly amused. You could never count on her. 
Chelsey scanned around the group as Serena began to bicker, saying something about how that wasn't the proper phrase and it was completely missing the point. All she got was a pair of sympathetic glances from Reid and Auria, the only ones with more than one brain cell in the group, the only ones level-headed enough to bargain with the more unruly members; and the only hope Chelsey had of escaping the horrible fate that awaited her.
Darn.
Chelsey nervously swirled a loose string from her long sleeved shirt around her finger, biting her opposite thumbnail in apprehension.
This was terrible. If she were ever in charge, by some crazy turn of events, she'd make sure this never happened.
She reached down for her glitter-covered notebook beneath the bench. Instead, her fingers brushed upon the coarse, flakey texture of something else.
What…? Oh. Right.
She'd forgotten about it. This last night she'd been at the school library and seen this "magic" book. It was a ridiculous claim, but maybe Chelsey was a ridiculous sort of person. She was part of this group after all.
"I… Um. I've gotta go to the restroom. I'll be right back." Chelsey tried to hide the object beneath her shirt as she got up.
"What the heck, Chelce? Don't even think 'bout tryin' t' run away!" Lina quipped.
She cast a glare over her shoulder and stalked to the girls' room as soon as possible, trying to hide her nervous excitement. It would be fine if they didn't notice, right?
Entering the farthest stall, Chelsey pried open the book; a carefully crafted work that looked just like a thick, century-old encyclopedia. However, when the old cover gave way, the inside was hollow. There, an aged scroll sat, untouched. She'd had a feeling that this book, or well, box, would contain a secret.
Chelsey reached in and cautiously lifted the artifact out, hardly daring to breathe, heart racing. It looked like it would crumble at a moment's notice. Still, her curiosity overtook her and she gently smoothed her fingers over the ancient parchment, the thick but pleasant scent of musk rising from the crackling sheet.
Simple black and red markings were scattered about the browned page, all meticulous and begging for answers.
A map, huh? That was sooo cool!!!
She felt something blossom in her stomach, and it was hard to refrain from jiggling and squealing in anticipation.
After a moment if triumph, Chelsey took a deep breath and squinted intently at the fancy, faded dancing script that decorated what seemed to be key locations.
Some were unreadable, blurred or peeled, seemingly lost forever to time; but there was one that really caught her eye.
Book of Invincibility? That…
What was that supposed to mean?
She was half-tempted to scoff, but at the same time desperately wanted to believe in this supposed magic. 
What would it do, though? How would it work? Would you be invincible if you read it? Or did you have to be holding in it? Should she write in it? Or would it be some sort of demonic contract?
Chelsey's mind spun with all the possibilities. All she knew was that she wanted it. It would be her treasure from now on. No one could stop her.
Suddenly, the voices of her group echoed through the halls,  disrupting her train if thought. Laughter too. She flinched. They were approaching. Fast.
They couldn't find out about this. For everything they'd done, she couldn't trust them. She'd make the pay. Once she had the Book of Invincibility, she would be the one in charge. 
Yes, she could do this.
She straightened her back and let her eyes dart around for a place to hide the box and scroll.
Chelsey wouldn't let anyone hold her back this time.
She would "throw lemons at frogs," so to speak. 
submitted by Jaybells, age Obscure, Lost in the Universe
(April 25, 2021 - 1:07 am)
submitted by TOPsy Turvy
(April 25, 2021 - 10:01 am)

---

Safe to say, Lucy was having a bad day. Whoever had put her in charge of handling five children had been an absolute idiot to do so, because Lucy felt ready to dropkick the nearest person.

Oh wait, that had been Jessica. Jessica had left her with her five younger siblings, and skedaddled, claiming a pre-determined appointment. Even worse, the children were magic. Lucy didn't have any experience with magic children! She didn't have any experience, with magic, she didn't have any experience with children, so it made it ten times worse to have to deal with magic children!

Honestly, Lucy had already decided that she was never coming to Jessica's house again.

A slight tugging on her sleeve brought her out of her string of thoughts, and Lucy looked down. Kelly was standing there, looking close to tears. She was arguably the quietest of Jessica's five younger siblings, and the youngest too, at age six.

"Yes, Kelly?"

"Watson took my book of invincibility," Kelly wailed plaintively.

Lucy cringed inwardly. Kelly had the power to look into other people's memories, which was rather ironic, because of her own memory problems. Because of that, Kelly had to write everything down in a notebook, or as she had dubbed it, Kelly's book of invincibility (since she couldn't be hurt as long as she could remember things, and she wrote everything important down in the notebook).

"Watson," Lucy called, "why did you take Kelly's memory notebook?"

Watson glanced behind his shoulder, cackling maniacally. "I want to combine it with Shelly's glitter, to make the ultimate notebook!"

"It's not yours, give it back to Kelly," Lucy said, quickly losing patience–this was the third time Watson had stolen something.

"No!" Watson said proudly.

Turns out, he didn't have to give it back, because the notebook tore itself out of his hands, flying back to Kelly's arms.

"Don't be mean to Kelly!" Charlie yelled from across the room.

Oh yea. Charlie had telekinesis.

"Speak for yourself, hypocrite!" David shrieked, "Lucy, make him stop making me eat lemons!"

"I'm not making you eat lemons, you're helping me make lemonade!"

"No you're not, you're force-feeding me lemons! It tastes like charcoal! Oh, the horror!"

Lucy sighed. Lemons definitely did not taste like charcoal, and she'd been watching them for the whole time–they really were just making lemonade. When David was in one of his dramatic moods though ... he was difficult to deal with during those.

"Look, David," Lucy said, trying a different tactic, "When life gives you lemons–"

"Throw that at the nearest frog!" Shelly called from across the room, where she was coloring in her home-made map of the neighborhood.

David immediately picked up the nearest lemon, standing up to find a frog to throw it at.

"No–David, don't throw lemons at frogs. Shelly, don't do your puppeteering thing, it's not nice!" Lucy said.

"Tell David that, he teamed up with Watson yesterday to steal all my crayons!"

Right, it would've been easy for David, with his weird time-control powers, and Watson, with his odd ability to bend light.

"And David tried to tell everyone at school that I kissed a cow yesterday!" Kelly added.

Lucy put her head in her hands. Honestly, how did Jessica put up with all of them?

"Everyone–" Lucy began, but suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Oh, thank goodness! Jessica was finally here!

"Hold on a second, everyone," Lucy said, hurrying over to the door.

Lucy opened it, and looked up.

She stopped, dead in her tracks.

That definitely wasn't Jessica.

---

oOOooh, cliffhanger! 

submitted by Rainbow Riot
(April 26, 2021 - 9:54 am)

Okay so maybe this isn't the best because I did it during a 20 minute break at school but hey at least I included all the words. Oh yeah, I have a question: I used "glittery" instead of "glitter". Is that okay? If not, I'll try to change it. 

Well, without further ado, here's my story:

~~~

“I can’t believe it. We have one summer - ONE SUMMER - left until we have to go to middle school. Shouldn’t we be doing something FUN?” Rowan cried dramatically. 

 

“Speak for yourself. I’m only in fourth grade,” Quinn chirped. 

 

“Well, when life gives you lemons, throw them at the nearest frog,” Dad said from the driver’s seat, then laughed at his own joke. He thinks he’s hilarious. 

 

“Honey, I don’t know why you’re so against going to your great aunt’s for

summer vacation,” Mom said, checking the GPS map on her phone. 

 

“Well, I had PLANS!” Rowan yelled, crossing their arms over their chest. “And at the last minute you announce that we’re going to great aunt Mary’s house. FOR THE WHOLE FROGGING SUMMER!”

 

Kendall sighed, shaking her head, and went back to writing in her notebook. She, for one, didn’t mind going to great aunt Mary’s. It wasn’t like she had any friends at home.


The car stopped in front of an A-frame cabin. Off to the side of the cabin, there was a fire pit littered with pieces of charcoal. Other than that, there was nothing but trees. The three kids grabbed their suitcases and got out, and Mom rolled down her window. “If anything should happen, Kendall’s in charge-”


“What!” Rowan protested. “But I’m older!”

 

“By like, two minutes.” Kendall rolled her eyes. “And you’ve already proven to not be responsible.” 

 

“WHEN?” yelled Rowan. 

 

“Um, let’s see.” Kendall started counting on her fingers. “That time you pushed Quinn into the swimming pool, that time you let Henry’s dog eat a piece of chocolate and he threw up everywhere-”

 

“Okay, okay, we get it. Jeez,” muttered Rowan. 

 

“And we’ll pick you guys up in three weeks,” Mom continued. 

 

“See? Only three weeks. Not the whole summer.” Kendall twisted a hazel string of her hair that had escaped her ponytail around her finger. 

 

“Yeah, but...it’s still a long time!” Rowan retorted. 

 

“And NO FIGHTING,” added Mom. “Got that?” 

 

“Uh-huh,” Rowan sighed. 

 

“Yep,” agreed Quinn.

 

“Got it,” said Kendall. 

 

“Alright, love you,” said Mom.

 

“Love you,” all the kids chimed in unison. And with that, the car sped off. “So, uh, should we knock or something?” asked Kendall. The kids all ran over to the front door of the cabin. Rowan rapped loudly on the door. 

 

“Coming…” a voice called. The door opened a few moments later and a woman with long silvery gray hair stepped out. She was wearing a long purple robe and carrying a book. The title read, in glittery gold letters, the Book of Invincibility. 

 

“What’s that book?” Kendall asked, overcome by curiosity. 

 

“Oh, nothing,” great aunt Mary replied, snapping the book shut. But not before the kids got a glimpse of yellowy light radiating from the pages of the book. Mary ushered the kids inside the house and closed the door behind them. 

 

Entering the house, Rowan stopped and stared. They saw shelves lined with brightly colored bottles, a cauldron sitting on the floor, a bookcase stuffed with ancient looking books, and diagrams of strange animals and plants tacked to the walls. And the overall aura of the house was something Rowan couldn’t quite put into words...though it did bring a sense of magic. Rowan smiled to themself. Maybe the summer wouldn’t be so boring after all.  

submitted by pangolin
(April 26, 2021 - 10:39 am)
submitted by top
(April 27, 2021 - 9:25 am)
submitted by panTOPlin
(April 27, 2021 - 1:43 pm)

We should bring this back. It was a cool idea.

submitted by Jaybells, Lost, somewhere
(July 27, 2024 - 2:24 pm)